The Trouble With Brothers
by feelthesarcasm
Summary: Admitting he had feelings for his younger female coworker was hard for Apollo but he eventually accepted it. Working up the courage to ask her out was an even harder task for him but he managed it. Trying to date the rambunctious, emotion reading Athena under the close, watchful eye of her 6'2 ex-con samurai "brother" and his wild hawk proved to be the hardest task of them all.
1. Chapter 1

Athena was in the bathroom, putting her hair in a ponytail with a bright new, red bow to match her new outfit. Simon was sprawled out on the couch, flipping through channels, long black hair hanging over the side. This had become their typical Friday nights for the past few weeks. Athena asked Simon to move in when he was released from prison because he refused to stay at Aura's with all the engineering crap she had there. Her place wasn't terribly big and he was still waiting for the back pay from when he prosecuted cases but they got enough money together to get a pull out couch for him to sleep on and a cozy place for Taka to rest as well.

Tonight was going to be different though because Athena had a date. She nervously fumbled around in the bathroom, wanting to wear a little makeup for the occasion. She was nineteen and this was a first for her. Being a teenager in law school didn't really grant her many dating opportunities due to the significant age difference of her and her classmates, but with Simon free and being nicely settled into the Wright Anything Agency, it seemed like the perfect time.

She walked out of the bathroom, casually going to get her coat. She didn't really want to draw Simon's attention if it wasn't necessary. And he had a tendency to zone out when the TV was on.

"Where are you going?" He asked softly, without looking away from the TV

Damn his senses. She thought to herself. "I was just going out for a run."

This drew his attention and he moved to an upright position giving her a look over, noticing it was a new outfit. "That was a rather sad attempt at a lie. You wear a sweat suit when you're going out for a run."

"Alright, fine. I'm going out with a friend."

"Another noodle night with the coworkers?" He huffed, lying back down.

**"Nope! It's a date!" **Widget chimed in, just at the wrong time of course. If she would have remembered, she definitely would have taken the thing off.

"What did that thing say?" Simon asked, in a much more stern and serious voice.

Athena sighed walking over to the couch. "I'm going out with someone that Juniper introduced me to."

His eyes narrowed a bit. "Who is this someone?"

"He's a nice guy, his name is James Winslow, he went to Themis Academy with Junie, prosecutor course and unlike her friend Hugh he's actually 19."

Simon stared at her for quite a while in silence before returning his gaze to the TV. "Very well then. Just text me if you're going to be late so you don't have to walk home by yourself."

Athena put her hands on her hips, slightly confused. "…..That's it?" She hadn't expected for it to be that easy. When she was younger Simon was the very definition of overprotective, inspecting anyone who came into the space lab. She had expected all the samurai phrases to come out with the mention of a date. Maybe it was a delayed response.

"That's it. I have nothing to be worried about. Have a nice time."

There's not even any discord in his voice…he must be alright with it then. She slid widget off her neck, not wanting it to pipe in at a time that might be embarrassing for her.

"That's great! Maybe that means I can gossip about boys with you!"

Simon made a slight face at that suggestion. "Reserve that for female Wright-dono."

She walked past the couch, ruffling his messy hair on her way out. When she was gone, Simon got up from his position on the couch, turning the TV off.

"Why don't we get a little background info on this Winslow fellow, shall we Taka?" He hadn't been lying to Athena; she obviously would have picked up on that. Simon wasn't worried about her date at all. He was a prosecutor after all.

He grabbed his phone off the counter. "Rockstar-dono, are you still at the courthouse? I need you to find some information on a James Winslow for me. 19, recent graduate of Themis Academy and send it to my phone. Why I need this information is of no business of yours."

As he waited for Klavier to send the information, he had gone into the bathroom grabbing one of Athena's ribbons, dangling it out in front of Taka. "I think you're going to be doing a little hunting tonight, buddy." He smirked.

It only took about ten minutes for his phone to vibrate. He sat back down combing through the information. "Hmm, no record, graduated." He sighed a bit scrolling down further. There had to be a flaw there that Simon could use as justification to make sure this was his first and last date with Athena.

"Hmph, look here Taka. Says he's interning under the Payne's; unacceptable. Athena should be nowhere affiliated with those pathetic excuses of human life. Time to get to work, Taka, you know what to do." He smiled, feeling rather justified at the moment.

Taka fluttered off to find Athena once the window was open. Simon sighed contently and took his position back on the couch, turning the TV back on. A well trained hawk and access to public records made his life very easy.

At around 10pm, Taka flew back into the apartment, Simon was sitting on the couch sipping tea. "Ah, you're back which means that Athena's date is over. I trust you did an excellent job." He smirked, rubbing the back of the birds head.

Less than ten minutes later, Athena closed the door, shrugging off her coat in silence. Simon took note that she didn't seem all that pleased, which meant things went just as he wanted

He cleared his throat a bit, not wanting to show any excitement. "How was your date?"

"Ugh, the guy was a total loser. He was acting weird all night long and kept looking over my shoulder. He hardly paid me any attention." She pouted, coming over to sit next to him on the couch, taking a sip of his tea.

Probably because there was a two foot bird behind you all night. Simon thought, rubbing his mouth to hide the smirk he felt tugging on his lips. Taka had definitely earned himself a steak.

"Hmph, well then he's a fool because I don't know how any could be in your presence and not pay attention." He smiled, sliding his arm around her gently

"You're supposed to say things like that." She smiled, pushing his bang out of his face a little. "But I'm alright, really. He's not the last guy on earth. Anyway, I guess I'll go get ready for bed."

Simon kissed her forehead as she went off to her bedroom groaning at the thought that there would be more men like this fellow for him to deal with. "It would seem that my release from the clink was perfect timing."

* * *

Monday morning came and the Wright Anything Agency was having a slow day. Mr. Wright was meeting with one of his clients at the detention center, Apollo was cleaning the toilet while Trucy and Athena sat on the cluttered couch, gossiping.

"So he didn't even walk you home?!"

"No! He didn't even offer. He seemed distracted the entire night." Athena mumbled, slumping against the back of the couch.

"That's terrible! We should have Mr. Simon and Polly beat him up!" Trucy exclaimed.

"Have Polly beat who up?" Apollo echoed, taking off some rubber gloves. "And why do I always have to clean the toilet and all you two do is talk?"

Trucy decided to ignore the question. "Athena's date was a total jerk, you should beat him up!"

"No one is beating up anyone. It's not like I knew him all that well so I guess there's no need to be mad about it."

"Polly, how do you treat your dates?" Trucy smiled.

Apollo blinked. "Well…you know, I…definitely pay attention to them. I've seen Athena toss a police officer and smack me so I know she's not to mess with." He laughed awkwardly.

Athena thought for a moment. "Hmm you know, I've been working here for over a year now and I don't think you've ever mentioned going on a date."

"Well I've known him two years before that and I don't think I remember any dates either." Trucy added "Unless those times you hung out with Ema Skye count?"

"They don't!" Apollo answered quickly before sighing. "I guess, it's been awhile, but I've been too busy trying to become a better lawyer."

Trucy rolled her eyes and waved her hand. "Oh boo, that's the lamest thing I've ever heard. You have to have a life outside of work! Or you'll be boring and alone like daddy."

Athena laughed. "Be nice Trucy, I didn't have time to do any dating in Europe."

"Well daddy has his badge back and Mr. Simon is free, perfect time for you both to get out there and do some romancing."

"Don't worry about me Truce, I'm Apollo Justice and I'm single and I'm fine!" He smiled.

"Yeah, me too!" Athena shouted back grinning.

"Ugh, sometimes you guys are like one in the same." Trucy sighed, going off to practice one of her magic tricks.


	2. Chapter 2

Athena stood behind Simon's chair trying to brush through his tangled hair while he attempted to get some work done at his desk. She sometimes stopped by his office for lunch or during a recess.

"So what are you doing after work tonight?"

She managed to keep Simon busy over the past few weeks with more potential dates. Not wanting to tire Taka out, or owe the bird anymore steaks, he figured out other ways to scare them off. The whole 'Twisted Samurai' persona was enough for most and he even enlisted the help of Prosecutor Gavin, who for some reason liked hanging around him at the office.

"Probably just hanging with Trucy and Apollo tonight."

He winced every now and then as she brushed. "No date tonight?" He asked, though he already knew the answer to that.

She let out a long sigh. "No. The last few have been pretty terrible. I don't get what's wrong. They all start out fine but things either get really weird during the date or I never hear back from them again. Maybe I'm doing something wrong."

The last thing Simon wanted to do was feel guilty for his part in her dates falling off the face of the earth. And even if he did, it'd probably be picked up by widget and he'd be faced with a serious line of questioning. So he thought for a moment to formulate the proper answer.

"There's nothing wrong with you, those guys were just unworthy. Whoever does end up with you should be of the finest quality and trustworthy, like my companion."

Athena stopped brushing and looked down at him. "Your companion is a bird."

"My companion is someone who came to see me every day in prison, how many women would be willing to do that? And you don't count." He smirked.

"Good point."

"Not saying that you'll become a suspect of another crime anytime soon, but if that were ever to be the case, I expect such a person if he exists, should be willing to go to the lengths I did to protect you."

Athena smiled pulling his hair back in a ponytail. "As sweet at that would be, I think you're the only samurai left in this century. And you're more than enough. So do you want to come out with us tonight?"

Simon looked at her shaking his head. "I respectfully decline."

"Like that's a shock, you decline every time. As much as I totally adore you Simon, me and Taka can't be the only friends you have." She pouted, moving around to sit in the chair in front of his desk. "Trucy thinks you're mysterious and Apollo…well, he's Apollo."

"Again, I appreciate the offer, as I do every time but I think I'll be busy."

She tilted her head a bit looking at him before grinning. "Oh I see. You're going to be hanging out with your new BFF Prosecutor Gavin."

He scoffed at that shooting her a glare. "He is not my friend, he's an associate who lacks an understanding of boundaries and seems completely un-phased by my threats of physical violence."

"Okay fine. So are you spending time with your associate Prosecutor Gavin?"

"If I don't indulge his company every few weeks his pestering will become insufferable. So yes, tonight is that night." He decided to leave out the fact that he owed the man past favors for being his investigator of her dates of course.

Athena had to hold herself back from squealing as that would only aggravate him more but she was excited that he had managed to let someone besides her get closer to him, even if it were against his will. If timing could get anymore perfect, there was an unusually rhythmic knock on his door and by the eye roll, she knew just who it was.

Not waiting for an invitation in, because he never did, Klavier opened the door. "Good afternoon, Herr Blackquill. I see you have a lunch time guest again today." He smiled coming over kissing her hand. "Guten tag, Fraulein Cykes."

She laughed softly. "Guten tag Prosecutor Gavin! You're in a cheerful mood."

"Ja, there is nothing more sweet than the sound of a guilty verdict, followed by the judge's gavel." He smiled.

"If you two are done with your German pleasantries, Cykes-dono it's probably time for you to go back to your merry crew of defense attorney's." Simon said, getting from his desk to walk her to the door.

"Yeah, they're probably wondering where I ran off to, as always. See you later Simon." She went over and quickly hugged him before heading out the room.

Simon sighed softly closing the door, turning to face the other Prosecutor. "What is it that you want Flashy-dono?"

"Me? I just came to see the heartwarming interaction between you and the Fraulein. Only time you're not as cold." He smirked. "And you know why I'm here. You've agreed to hang out with me at least once a month for my assistance and silence about sabotaging young Athena's dates and I'm here to collect my debt."

Simon's eyes narrowed. "I'd never really peg you as the kind of individual capable of blackmail."

Klavier smiled as he dug in his pocket feeding Taka a treat. He learned early on that was the easiest way to keep the bird from attacking him. "Oh I'm not using it to blackmail you. I'm just using it as incentive to hang out. It's not like either one of us can stand any of the other prosecutor's in this place and we do have some similarities, so why not make the most of it?"

"Very well, but if you bring that guitar you'll find your head through it."

"Ja, I understand. Though I think if you listened to Guilty Love while you were doing all of this paperwork, you'd find yourself to like it more. Are we doing more investigative work tonight?"

"I'm afraid not. Cykes-dono is only going out with the Wright crew tonight."

"And the last person that needs surveillance is Herr Forehead." Klavier laughed.

Even Simon let out a laugh at the thought. "I'd say you have a better chance at getting with Cykes-dono than Justice-dono and don't even get any ideas. You know I'd cut your tongue out for trying."

* * *

Apollo and Athena finished up at the courthouse, which included a lecture about her coming back from lunch late and were now headed back to the Wright Anything Agency.

"So what do you want to do tonight?"

"Well I don't think we'll be able to get out of Trucy taking us to Eldoon's noodles, even though I'd like to eat other places every once in a while." Apollo frowned.

"Ugh, no kidding, if I eat another noodle, I'm probably going to explode. Maybe we can suggest somewhere else to her?"

As they walked up to the Agency, there was a note hanging on the front of the door. "Hmmm looks like we won't have to worry about coaxing her. Trucy went off to do some kind of emergency thing with Jinxie." Apollo stated as he waved the note around.

"Oh, then I guess we're on our own tonight. Now we can eat anything we want!" Athena grinned, quickly opening Widget to browse through restaurants in the area. "There's a nice burger place that's not too far from here, we could walk."

Apollo smiled taking his jacket off draping it over his forearm. "That sounds good. Let's go."

Who was Athena kidding when she said the restaurant wasn't that far? Apollo would consider a mile far enough. He could have ridden his bike if he knew it would take this long to get there.

"That was….long." He huffed walking over to one of the booths sliding in.

"It wasn't that far and it's a nice evening, great for a power walk!"

Were all 19 year olds this energetic? Apollo couldn't remember but a mile was probably long to him four years ago too. They each ordered a burger and to save some money split the fries. At least they'd finally be getting paid with Mr. Wright back to work.

"Man this is a really good burger!" Apollo exclaimed, probably a little too loud for a dinner conversation but Athena was use to his chords of steel by now and hardly noticed.

"No kidding, I don't think I've ever been here before either." She smiled, grabbing the ketchup to put on the fries. "Darn squeeze bottle…."

"Athena, you shouldn't slam it down like that….." He warned.

She groaned struggling with the ketchup, grabbing it with both hands squeezing it harder. The extra pressure helped as the ketchup came squirting out of the bottle, missing the fries and hitting Apollo.

"AHH! Stop!"

Athena gasped and put the ketchup down. "Sorry!" She quickly grabbed her napkin wiping off his face and chest.

He sighed a bit, something always seemed to happen to him when he was with Athena but he didn't want to make her feel bad. "It's okay Athena; a little ketchup never hurt anyone." He smiled, grabbing her hand.

When they touched, Athena felt something that she couldn't describe. An emotion that Widget couldn't even read but she just ignored it and sat back down. "It's a good thing you're always wearing red, blends right in!" She joked.

* * *

They finished their meal making small talk about the case they were currently working and Trucy's last magic show.

"Seriously, I'm volunteering you for the next knife throwing trick." Apollo laughed leaning against the back of the booth.

"You chicken! All because she took a few strands of hair off the last time. I'll do it only if you take my next toilet scrubbing shift." Athena smirked.

"Excuse me guys but we're closing in five minutes." The waitress said as she came over to remove their empty plates.

"Really? We've been here that long." Apollo went to reach for his phone to check the time. "I guess it's too late to do anything else."

Athena nodded as she stood up. Simon would probably send out a search party if she got home too late but at least they didn't have work tomorrow. "That's fine, I had fun just sitting here talking."

A light rain had started outside while they were eating. "Hmmm, maybe we should share a taxi." Apollo suggested.

She looked at the sky before shaking her head. "Oh come on, it's only a little rain; a drizzle really. We can be home by the time we wait for a taxi."

Apollo was about to object but Athena had already began walking so he just followed. Within minutes the light rain turned into a heavy downpour; a thunderstorm.

"Just great…." He mumbled.

Athena quickly tucked Widget under her shirt so it wouldn't get wet and grabbed Apollo's jacket covering her head as she broke out into a run. "Hurry up, Apollo!"

"Hey!" He called, running after her though he couldn't keep up with her pace. Did she run in school or something? By the time he managed to reach her porch he was panting heavy and soaking wet.

Athena was also wet but not nearly as wet as Apollo as she had protected herself with his jacket. "That rain came out of nowhere."

"Well we wouldn't have gotten wet if we would have taken a taxi like I suggested." He mumbled glaring at her.

"Yeah well, we wouldn't have needed to even think about a taxi…if you would have had your license!" She shot back. "Why don't you have a car?"

"I have a bike and you're 19, why don't you have a license! You're not as wet anyway because you had something to cover yourself with." He responded, motioning to his soaked jacket.

"Well…" Athena didn't have a response to that. It was still raining hard, she would invite him upstairs to stay the night so he didn't get any wetter but she wasn't sure how Simon would feel about that. He was adamant about letting no one know that they lived together. "At least let me call you a taxi from here." She said softly, reaching over trying to straighten the two horns of hair that had drooped and stuck to his forehead.

When she touched his head, that feeling resurfaced again, the one that she couldn't describe. Her eyes met his and he returned a small smile. She reached into her pocket getting out her phone calling a taxi.

"At least the rain took care of the ketchup stain." He laughed softly looking down at his shirt.

"See so it wasn't a total loss. And you got a real workout today."

It wasn't long before the taxi had arrived. Athena handed Apollo his jacket back and watched the car drive off before going upstairs. The lights were off which meant Simon was probably already asleep. She'd have to ask him about his evening with Prosecutor Gavin in the morning.


	3. Chapter 3

Athena woke up the next morning stumbling her way to the kitchen to get her daily glass of orange juice. Who needed coffee? Simon was an early bird so it didn't surprise her that he was already awake and seemingly decided it would be a good day for cleaning the apartment. Another benefit to sharing a place with him. He was very meticulous at it as well; cleaning over and under every piece of furniture. She wasn't sure if prison made him a neat freak or if it was always in his nature.

"Morning Simon." She greeted setting her glass down on the counter.

He simply grunted back at her, which was his normal response when he was in the middle of doing something and too busy for conversation. She took note that his hair was tied up in a bun so it wouldn't be in the way. Very proud that she was the one to show him how to do that. While she refilled on another glass of orange juice she saw his phone light up on the counter. Must have been a text and since he was far too busy to stop his aggressive cleaning, she took it upon herself to look at it.

Simon's head popped up from behind the couch; where he had been cleaning when he heard her laughing. "What has you so amused at this time of morning?"

She waved his phone around. "Herr Samurai thanks for hanging out with me last night. Guess we're pretty handy for one another. We must get together and rock out again like that sometime, ja?" She grinned in her best Gavin impersonation.

He groaned and walked over snatching the phone from her. "Keep your nose out of my stuff. I don't want to resort to hiding things on high shelves that you can't reach."

Athena's grinned still remained. "Sounds like he enjoyed your company and since you were already sleep when I came in; you have to tell me what you guys did."

Simon shook his head at her and waved his hand, going back to cleaning. "I'm afraid you'll be disappointed by the enthusiasm of Flashy-dono's text. It was a simple night. We got dinner after work as coworkers." A dinner that he enjoyed because it was a bit more upscale than the places he frequented with Athena and co. Being a rock star didn't mean Klavier had all annoying qualities, he supposed. "He hassled me about whether I was getting a new car or not since I've received back pay for the cases I prosecuted from prison. Something about the image of the prosecutor's office."

The prosecutor's did seem to like their grand entrances. Gavin with his motorcycle and Edgeworth with his shiny red sports car. Expensive and classy seemed to be the one quality they all shared.

"So are you going to get a new car?"

Simon shrugged. "It doesn't sound like a bad idea; especially since someone doesn't have her license and I guess I'm due to treat myself to a present. Flashy-dono gave his personal suggestion of getting a motorcycle like him."

The mental image Athena painted of Simon on a motorcycle wearing a leather jacket was too much for her and giggled out loud until he shot her a glare. "Umm…so do you want a motorcycle?"

"Hmph. I took a small ride around the block on his. It was okay but Taka didn't seem to enjoy that method of transportation."

"…You rode a motorcycle around the block with a bird?"

"Don't judge me."

She laughed as he walked over, making himself some tea. "Well either way, I think it's nice that you and Prosecutor Gavin get along, he's a very nice guy."

"After you and Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth being on my case about strengthening my interpersonal relationships, he was the only worthy candidate at work."

"Because you're both so sophisticated and classy." She teased. "Speaking of friends, Juniper is coming by today for a girly day. Please try not to scare her."

Simon gave her a devious smirk. "Scary? Me?"

* * *

It wasn't uncommon to see Apollo at the Wright Anything Agency on a Saturday. It had become routine for Trucy to use that time to practice her new tricks on him. And since there was no work, he was a little more cooperative. Not much, but it was better than nothing.

"Do you think daddy thinks I'm old enough to throw knives in my show?"

"Absolutely not! And I wouldn't be okay with it either."

Trucy sighed dramatically as she stuck his wallet in her magic hat. "Sorry I bailed yesterday but Jinxie really needed my help with something. 3…2…1…Tada!" She frowned a bit as his wallet was now shredded to bits.

Apollo frowned, thankfully he had prepared for such a mishap and took everything out of it, but it was still a pretty nice wallet. "Its fine, me and Athena went out to eat and then caught in the rain."

"And you didn't even get any noodles for me? You stink Apollo."

He laughed softly. "It's not like you can't get noodles whenever you want, besides we went somewhere else to eat."

The hat and debris of his wallet dropped immediately and Trucy's gloved hand flew up to her face in shock. "You and Athena….went to a restaurant alone? Like a date?"

Apollo stared at her dumbfounded. "WHAT?! NO it wasn't a date!"

She put her hands on her hips. "Hmm, are you sure? Would you even be aware if you were on a date or not?"

"Of course I would!" He retorted, though the statement lacked confidence. Still, there was no way Athena felt like that about him; they were just two co-workers going out to dinner together.

Trucy wasn't convinced and quickly came over to join him on the couch. "To be sure I'm going to need you to tell me everything that happened last night."

Apollo didn't plan on spending his Saturday gossiping with Trucy. It was the first time he actually wished he was on toilet duty but recounted the dinner he had with Athena, the little mishap with the ketchup and getting caught in the rain. By the end Trucy looked as if she might explode from the excitement.

"So you shared food, split the bill, walked her home and got touched?! It was totally a date!" She squealed.

"N-no it wasn't! We shared the fries because we need to save money and I walked her home because it was late and she's younger than me."

Trucy waved her hand. "Uh huh. It still sounds like a date to me and you had a nice time didn't you?"

He rubbed his head a little. "Yeah it was fine."

"See! I can't believe my Polly went on a date with a girl!"

"I'm telling you Trucy, it wasn't a date. Athena and I are just friends."

She sighed putting her hands on her hips. "Don't you like Athena?"

Apollo sat silent, not sure how to respond. He and Athena were great friends but he never even considered a romantic relationship with her. He never thought about that stuff at all. "I like her as a friend, I never thought about a girlfriend."

Trucy leaned over plucking him on the forehead. "Well maybe that's the problem. I know you've always been too busy working and everything but now that daddy is back at work there's three lawyers at the agency! It wouldn't hurt to get you a girlfriend. Then I'd only have to worry about daddy being alone forever."

"You've really been watching too many romantic movies Truce."

"Look, just hear me out okay? What if Athena really does like you? She's been going on dates and told us how terrible they all ended. Did she seem like she had a good time last night?"

Apollo sat back playing with the zipper on his sweatshirt. "I guess. She seemed to have a good time, even after getting caught in the rain. But that's because she probably didn't see it as a date."

Trucy grinned. "You don't know that for sure. She could totally have the hots for you Polly. I mean, she's the only girl besides me and Ema that's been around you a lot and she doesn't make fun of your big head or throw snacks at you. This could be your only chance!"

He looked at her his hair drooping. "Gee thanks for that awesome confidence boost. I really don't know about this…"

"You know when you left us after you got out of the hospital; Athena was the most worried about you. And we talk about you all the time, typically good things."

He raised an eyebrow looking at her. "Really...but then look what I did with that worry; I accused her of murder."

"And she still forgave you! If that doesn't scream 'hey I've got a crush on you' then nothing else will!" She smiled and while she did make valid points, Apollo was still unconvinced. She chalked that up to stubbornness. "Hmm, it's clear to me that you need concise evidence." Trucy pulled out her magic panties and counted back from three, making a small white board and markers appear. "We're going to do this the good ole' fashion way. A pros and cons list on why Athena Cykes would make a good girlfriend."

Apollo felt like he was back in high school. He didn't know if needing a list or taking love advice from a teenager was more embarrassing. Thankfully Mr. Wright wasn't there to see this.

"Okay, let's start with a pro. Athena's very pretty." Trucy smiled writing it down with the marker.

"Con, we work together, which is never a good idea."

"Pro, she doesn't care about your ridiculous hairdo."

Apollo snorted. "There's nothing ridiculous about my hair."

Trucy ignored his response; it was a debate for another day. "Pro, she knows how dull and bland you are but still hangs out with you anyway!"

He glared at her. "Hold it! I'm not dull!"

"Wellllllll maybe dull isn't the right word, but you're not exactly fun or interesting either."

"Ugh, con, she's taller than me."

"OBJECTION!" Trucy smacked the marker against the board. "Everyone's taller than you, at this rate the only girls not are me and Pearly. Besides, without heels on, you're almost the same height. That's as good as it's going to get for you. I say it's a pro!"

Apollo crossed his arms leaning back against the couch. "Fine."

"Let's see what else. She's smart, she's full of energy and she looks up to you. Not literally of course because she's taller but professionally."

"Wait….you really think she looks up to me as a lawyer?"

Trucy shook her head. Did Apollo know anything? "Of course she does. She tells me all the time that she loves when you work together. She likes working with daddy too but he's, well more of a daddy!" She took a step back and looked over the board. "It seems to be a landslide. The only con is that you work together but just think; you two could get married, have babies and have a family of defense attorney's! Just like I come from a family of magic." She smirked tipping her hat.

A family of lawyers? The Agency of Justice? Apollo quickly shook the thought out of his head. She was getting too far ahead of herself. "Okay I admit, the list is more positive than negative but…"

She put her hand over his mouth. "Shush. No more excuses. You do this all the time, running from the uncertain."

He sighed softly. "We don't even know if she likes me."

"Well use your bracelet to try and find out."

"No way! Last time I followed what my bracelet was telling me, it almost sent Athena to prison."

"So just don't jump to any conclusions this time. Or I could just ask her if she wants to date you."

Apollo quickly put his hand up. "No! You don't do anything. I'll handle it myself."

* * *

Simon finally finished cleaning the kitchen and living room when there was a knock at the door. "Morning Woods-dono." He greeted rather dully when he opened the door.

Even without his trench coat, dark circles around his eyes and shackles, Simon still frightened Juniper. This wasn't the first time she had come by to see Athena, but it was hard to get use to, even after hearing and seeing herself how he was when he wasn't in court.

"H-Hello Prosecutor Blackquill."

Athena walked over to the door, tugging her inside. "Junie! It's Saturday. You don't have to call him Prosecutor Blackquill when you come over."

Simon smirked chewing on one of Taka's feathers. He still enjoyed people fearing him, even if Athena asked him to lighten up. "Yes, forgive me for trying to throw you in the clink for life."

Athena shot him a look and stomped on his foot. "He's only teasing Junie. He was just about to go clean the bathroom, so don't worry." She smiled walking over to the couch with her.

Because Juniper lived up in the mountains, it had been three weeks since her last visit and they had a lot to catch up on.

"Sorry that date I set you up on didn't work out Thena. I thought he'd be a good match for you."

"It's okay, I've decided that I'm not going to look for love, I'm going to wait for it to find me!" She grinned. "I just don't attract guys as easily as you do."

Juniper blushed some. "Stop it. You're just as attractive as me and I don't even like all of this attention from these guys anyway. I'm just focusing on passing the bar right now. Hugh wouldn't allow it any other way anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"Now that his secret is out, he's turned into a total big brother to me and Robin. I don't think he'd let me date anyone even if I wanted to. He's not very intimidating but his smug, stuck up attitude is usually enough to send people walking the opposite direction."

Hugh sounded a lot like Simon, Athena thought to herself. He was also a little overprotective, but he seemed fine with her dating. Right?

"Athena." Simon called out emerging from the bathroom. "Why do you have wet clothes on the bathroom floor?"

"I got caught in the rain last night. Sorry, I forgot they were in there."

He grumbled something she couldn't hear closing the door to the bathroom so he could clean in silence.

"You were caught in the rain?"

"Yeah, last night after Apollo and I had dinner we got caught in the rain."

Juniper's eyes widened. "You and Apollo went to dinner alone, like a date?"

Athena looked at her confused. "Well….yeah but I don't think it was a date…."

"Are you sure? I always felt there was a connection between you and Apollo whenever I saw you two together." She smiled. Thankfully she was over her little crush on him or this probably would have been a much more awkward conversation.

She leaned back against the couch rubbing widget. "I never really thought about Apollo like that. He's a really great friend, probably my best friend besides you. I just assumed he wouldn't be into me like that."

"Maybe he likes you but he's too shy to tell you."

Did she like Apollo? She couldn't ignore the fact that she felt something when they were alone yesterday but was it attraction? Did he feel the same way back? She decided to keep that bit of information to herself, not wanting to get Junie too involved just in case it all turned out to be nothing.

"He's so stubborn though. He'd never tell me if he does like me."

"Well…..maybe he doesn't have to tell you directly. With your hearing, you might be able to pick up on something the next time you talk to him."

Athena didn't really want to drag things out of Apollo that way, especially after Clay's case they promised to be honest with each other. Still, maybe she could just use it to get the conversation going and get him to confess. If there was anything to confess at all.


	4. Chapter 4

So sorry for such a huge delay in this story everyone. I wrote a few chapters in advance and then hit writer's block. Then I decided to change the focus of the story (as you can see the description changed a bit) but we're finally back and updates should be more regular (approx 2x a week). Thanks for sticking around!

* * *

It was a cold February day when Athena and Apollo arrived at the Agency twenty five minutes late. Of course, it was hard to be considered late when your boss came in whenever he felt like it sometimes.

"Ugh it's so freaking cold outside. They didn't say anything about snow when I went to bed last night." Athena sighed shaking her numb hands. She was really regretting the fact that she lost her gloves a few weeks back

Apollo gently shook the snow off his hat as he slid it off. "No kidding, looks like we're the only ones here."

"Well it took us forever to get here, so I imagine the boss is probably held up too. I can't believe you still tried to bike into work after seeing all the snow."

"It didn't look as deep from my window!"

'Dork' Widget chirps out while Athena shakes out the snow from her own hat. "Well I guess it's just us here until the boss shows up. What do you want to do?"

Just as Apollo was about to respond, he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket.

"Oh Apollo! You dirty bird. You shouldn't bring things like that to the workplace." Athena grinned.

"W-What?! UGH it's just my phone. You're as bad as Prosecutor Gavin sometimes." He sighed pulling it out.

_Text Message_

_From: Mr. Wright_

_Pollo, did you know it was going to snow last night? Because if you did I might have to cut your pay. Haha, well not really but I've heard Prosecutor's say that over the years to this one poor detective I use to work with all the time and wanted to try it out on someone. Anyway, it's pretty cold out, so...yeah we probably won't have many clients. I'm just gonna stay home. It's already 9:30 though so you're more than likely already at the office. Heh probably should have sent this earlier. Sorry about that. Water Charley and scrub that toilet while you're there!_

This didn't really surprise Apollo. Sure, getting his badge back had definitely improved Phoenix's attitude and brought him closer to what Apollo to the Mr. Phoenix Wright he had imagined as a teenager. But there were still shades of the 'bum boss' sprinkled in every now and again. _Oh well, I suppose things wouldn't feel right if he had changed completely_.

"Well looks like we're on our own for today." He holds up his phone so Athena can read the message herself.

"Well what do we do now? We could leave but it seems like such a waste after all the work we did just to get in this morning. And someone might be murdered in this weather."

"Ha, with the luck of this agency our defendant would be a snowman." Apollo joked, but there was a hint of seriousness to work voice. They had seen almost everything already. "Yeah, we might as well stay here at least for a couple of hours. It'll give the plows time to come through and clear the streets."

Athena nodded trying to make room on the cluttered couch to sit down. "What do we do though? We haven't had a client in a week, so there's not even any paperwork to do. We could try to read those law books the boss keeps on display."

"They've got at least ten years of dust on them. This place is really a mess when you stop and take it all in."

"No kidding. And Pearls is boycotting cleaning the office. Maybe we should just do it ourselves?" She laughed.

Apollo shrugged. "What the hell, it's not like we have anything else to do right?"

"I don't even know where we should start. There's so much stuff in here."

"We should probably try to find our desk first. I think it's somewhere in this area right?"

They shared a desk due to the limited space in the room but it worked out pretty well. Athena wasn't really the type to sit behind a desk and work, so usually Apollo took the chair and she sat on the side of the desk that wasn't littered in papers and evidence.

"I think I found that book Trucy was looking for a couple days ago." Athena called out, trying to pull the book out of the bottom of a rather large and unstable looking pile.

"I swear more than half of the stuff in this place is hers. We really need to suggest to Mr. Wright that this go back to being a law office again. It's not like any of us have a talent besides Trucy anyway."

Athena suggested that they listen to music to help the cleaning go by faster but after thirty minutes of being unsuccessful in agreeing on what to listen to they gave up and settled for the sound of their own voices. Apollo found himself really enjoying being with Athena alone, not that he had anything against the Wright's or the Fey's, but he sometimes felt out of place when they referenced things that happened years ago, before he was around.

"Holy crap our desk has reappeared. It's like a miracle." He joked, grabbing an old cloth wiping the top of it down.

"It's like one of Trucy's magic tricks. Hey, I found something down here." Athena then popped her head up from under the desk.

Apollo looked at the object she had in her hand and rubbed his head a bit. "Oh that's my journal."

"A journal? You mean like a diary." She smirked turning the front page before it was quickly snatched away.

"I haven't seen this thing in a long time. I don't remember the last time I wrote in it." He quickly tossed it inside of the top drawer of the desk. "Come on let's get back to cleaning."

She smiled a bit at his embarrassment but nodded. "Alright, let's get back to work."

They continued their task, stopping every so often to comment and show each other what they had come across. A lot of it was old evidence that for some reason hadn't been thrown out.

"Why are we still holding onto some of this stuff?! I'm beginning to think we might secretly be hoarders. Oh! I think I found Trucy's Gavinner's shrine. There must be at least six posters here."

Apollo groaned. "Ugh, I kind of wish we had a fireplace in here to burn stuff like that"

"Somehow I suspect Trucy would know. Besides don't act like Prosecutor Gavin isn't your friend." Athena laughed placing the posters on the floor before she opened a box. "Hmmm Steel Samurai DVDs? These must be from Maya."

"He's like the mascot and celebrity endorsement for this office. I guess it makes sense though; they defended the main actor a couple years ago. I never really got the appeal of it but I guess it's just not for me."

Athena shrugged a little. "Actually, I was never really into the Steel Samurai either. I watched a little of the Pink Princess but it just wasn't my thing. I was more fascinated with robots." She did remember that Simon was a rather large fan of the show and spin off series but she knew better than to acknowledge that publicly to anyone else. Still, she could probably get the boss to let her borrow them.

"We should probably move Charley, with the way desperate clients come barging in he's likely to get crushed behind the door eventually." Apollo pointed out, carefully moving him to the other side of the room.

"I have to say, this place looks pretty awesome. We make a good cleaning team." She grinned, fist bumping him before flopping down on the couch. "Hey there's something stuck between the cushions." She dug down between the cushions pulling out a picture. "Hey it's you and Trucy, you guys sorta look alike in this picture but….who's the bum?"

Apollo sat down on the couch next to her taking the picture. "Wow I haven't seen this picture in over a year. And that bum is Mr. Wright." He laughed.

"What! No way!"

"This was a couple of months after I joined the agency. And yeah, he was pretty much a bum without his badge. I was such a huge fan of his so meeting him like this was a bit….shocking, I guess. He was cynical and shady and not encouraging at all. I didn't want to work here but no one would hire me after my old boss got arrested for murder. Feels like it was a long time ago."

Athena slid closer to him on the couch looking at the picture. "Wow, I can't ever picture boss not being…like he is now."

"We didn't get him cleared of the forgery charge until six months before you came. Me and Trucy kept pushing him to retake the bar exam but he wouldn't. I guess he was afraid too much time had passed. He started to turn around when he found out you'd be arriving from Europe to come work for him. Actually, if we're being honest, I wasn't all that excited about you joining the office."

She frowned. "You weren't?"

He turned to look at her. "No, it's nothing you did. I didn't know you at the time. But Mr. Wright….wouldn't stop talking about how talented and excited he was for you to come and I guess part of me was jealous. He didn't believe in me when I first started working here, in fact I'm pretty sure the only reason he wanted me to work with him was so I could keep an eye on Trucy and help him make rent. Growing up as an orphan makes you feel like you don't matter. Even as an adult Mr. Wright and Mr. Gavin didn't make me feel that much more important either."

"Wait…..Mr. Gavin?"

"Kristoph Gavin, he's Klavier's older brother and he was a terrible killer. He was the one responsible for Mr. Wright's disbarment but we only caught him with Klavier's help. We became friends after that."

Without warning Athena pulled him in for a tight hug. "I can hear all the emotion in your voice. I'm sorry about everything that happened and I never wanted you to feel put out. You're actually the main reason I feel so comfortable here. I mean, sure I enjoy working with Mr. Wright and learning from but I feel like I'm at my best when it's you and I together. We're a team. I know you've got more experience than me and I don't want to hold you back."

Apollo let the embrace last longer than he probably should have. He wasn't really someone that hugged but he felt comfortable and safe in Athena's arms. Slowly, he pulled back looking at her. "You're not holding me back, I really like working with you. Just do me a favor and don't throw any more police officers at me."

Athena laughed turning her head away from his gaze, blushing slightly. "Sorry about that. Well, its noon and no one has come by or called. And technically, boss gave us permission to close up early. Wanna head out and get some lunch?"

"Yeah that sounds good, but there's something I want to do first." Apollo pulled himself off the couch and walked over to get the camera from the top of the piano. "It's tradition to take a picture whenever the agency changes I'm told. We're about a year late but better late than never right?"

She grinned. "That's right, let's do it. Of course, we'll have to take another with Mr. Wright, Trucy and Pearls but…this can be just for us."

He walked over sliding his arm around her shoulder, holding the camera out with his free arm. "Alright, on three let's say…we're fine!"

"1…2…3 WE'RE FINE!"

"Now let's go eat. Hey, I'll race you to the café."

"The one that sells the brownies? It's over three blocks away." He tried to protest but Athena was already out the door.

"That girl is going to be the death of me…but I think I might actually like that." He set the camera on the desk, grabbed his jacket and winter hat, taking off after her.


	5. Chapter 5

"So we nearly froze to death on the way to work and in response to that you got a milkshake?" Apollo questioned as he and Athena left the small diner. Of course, she had won the foot race but he never expected to catch up with her anyway.

"The cold is nothing but a state of mind Apollo." Athena responded, laughing to herself. She was actually quoting something Simon said to her this morning.

"Did you see the looks people were giving you? It's like 30 degrees outside and you ordered something frozen."

Athena grinned. "Ahh you shouldn't worry so much about what other people think. It's better to just do you! Besides, I'm the one with the sensitive hearing you know? I could hear them saying I must be crazy to want a cold drink in this weather."

Apollo gripped tightly onto his hot chocolate as they shuffled their way through the snow. It wasn't terribly high but the snow plows had piled the snow up onto certain parts of the curb. "You don't ever worry about what people think?"

"Nope. And it's not just because I can hear what they think most of the time either. I just like being me, Athena Cykes. And Athena really wanted a milkshake, so she got one. Even in the middle of the winter. As long as you're having a good time, it doesn't matter how embarrassing you're being."

Apollo was normally easily embarrassed and tried to make himself invisible as possible in public. Yet for some reason he never affiliated himself with people that would make that easy. Mr. Wright could be the absolute worse person to be out in public with sometimes, Trucy always tried to hold an impromptu magic show with her magic panties and Athena seemed to always do something to draw attention, even if it wasn't intentional most of the time.

"Well I always have a good time with you." He admitted before he had a chance to think about it.

"Even though something always seems to happen to you when I'm around. You're the absolute best Apollo." Athena grinned moving closer to him, grabbing his arm throwing it over her shoulder.

The gesture took him by surprise and Apollo wasn't typically the touchy feely type but this felt comforting. They were so close he could feel her hair tickling his shoulder. Thank god his snow boots gave him an extra inch. His chest suddenly felt like it was going to burst through his chest. It was the most terrifying yet exciting feeling Apollo had ever felt in a long time. In fact he hadn't felt it since his early law school days.

And that was when his brain decided to shut itself back on and it clicked. _I have a crush on Athena...I HAVE A CRUSH ON ATHENA_. He quickly pulled himself out of Athena's grasp which caused him to stumble forward and fall face first into the snow.

"Apollo?!" Athena yelled with a mixture of confusion and worry on her face, grabbed him by the collar of his coat and yanked him back up. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Oh, I uh, must have tripped over a crack in the sidewalk. That's all. You actually didn't cause it this time." Apollo teased nudging her with his shoulder._Quick, change the subject Apollo._ "So why did you get so many brownies anyway?"

Athena shrugged. "I really like brownies and I'll probably give a few of them to Simon when I go...ho...meet him for lunch."

"So you're dropping by the prosecutor's office?"

She simply nodded, not wanting to get caught by lying by Apollo's bracelet. "You want to come along?" She smiled, already knowing what the answer would be.

"Uh, no. No thanks; I think I'm going to head back to the office for a minute. After all that cleaning we did I think I forgot to water Charley. Mr. Wright will kill me if I let that plant die." _And Prosecutor Blackquill still scares the crap out of me._

They came to a stop at the corner. The agency in one direction and the prosecutor's office in the other. Athena smiled and bowed to him. "Well then this is where we depart my trusted colleague. I bid you adieu."

Apollo rolled his eyes. "Get out of here silly." He smiled watching her leave before turning around and walking in the opposite direction.

* * *

Athena didn't really know why she was hiding the fact that Simon was staying with her from Apollo. Sure, the two weren't best friends but there was no real reason why he'd even care. Since his release there had been rumors about the two of them going around and she wasn't sure if Apollo would believe it was as innocent of an arrangement as they claimed.

_This is ridiculous, Apollo is like my best friend aside from Juniper. He wouldn't believe those types of rumors. But Simon did swear me to secrecy and I don't want to make him angry. And Apollo not knowing that I live with him isn't hurting anybody. It's not like he comes over to visit me. It took him months just to start texting me outside of business hours._

She decided to jog the rest of the way home, though it wasn't that easy with her heavy snow boots weighing her down.

"Ten minutes, a new personal snow record." She smiled, storing the information in her phone as she walked upstairs. Simon didn't have a case today so she expected him to be there.

She smirked when she saw a mop of black hair peeking out from underneath the plush comforter. It wasn't typical for him to spend all day in bed but she enjoyed seeing him relax as much as possible. Taka was nowhere to be found so she assumed he had gotten up at some point earlier in the morning to let him out so he could stretch his wings and do whatever it was hawks did during the day when they weren't delivering legal papers.

Athena poked the figure underneath the blanket at first but he had barely shifted in response. She tried to tug the blanket from out underneath him in an attempt to roll him on the floor but he was too big for that too.

She let out a frustrated huff before a devious smirk crossed her face. She walked over to the window opening it and gathered some of the snow off the window.

"This is a death wish, but even if I do die, it would have been totally worth it."

Just as she had pulled back to the sheet to stick the snow down his back, an arm quickly reached out grabbing her by the wrist.

"I would advise you to not even try that." Simon mumbled.

Athena pouted. "You spoil sport!"

Simon smirked and pulled himself up to a sitting position. "You need to be faster than that if you want a successful strike against me. What are you doing home so early?"

She leaned over ruffling his already messy hair before going into the kitchen to get some orange juice and placed the brownies on the counter. "Mr. Wright didn't come in so it was just me and Apollo and we didn't have much work. There's a good amount of snow out there. Were you planning to stay in bed all day?"

He pulled himself out of bed straightening his pajama pants before joining her in the kitchen, inspecting the box of brownies. "That was the plan, though I suppose I could change my plans if a certain someone wanted to do something."

"Oh! That reminds me. Look what came in the mail today." She grinned sliding the already opened envelope over to him.

"I see you took the liberty of opening it yourself. What a fine postal worker you'd make." Simon snorted opening it. "All of this excitement for a piece of plastic?"

She grabbed the coffee pot, plugging it in as she chugged her orange juice. "Oh stop being so stuffy, it's your driver license. A very important piece of plastic." She leaned against his shoulder to look at it. "I remember you being more photogenic eight years ago though. This picture is missing something..."

"A smile?"

"Yes! But regardless, now we can go on road trips and you can teach me to drive!"

Simon raised an eyebrow setting the card back down on the counter. "I will do no such thing. I just got exonerated for murder and you want me to be responsible for countless others?"

Athena glared at him. "You're not funny!"

"I beg to differ. Now do you have any sane suggestions for how we should spend the rest of the day?"

She hesitated for a moment looking at her feet. "Well, I was thinking that maybe we could go out in the snow. You...haven't had a chance to go out in it in awhile. I remember you use to take me out on the space center lawn. Of course, you were probably just doing it to be nice."

He looked at her before a soft smile crossed his face. "Would you like to go out in the snow, Athena?"

"...yes."

"Then it isn't really up for discussion. However, we'll probably need to go shopping for proper winter wear first. It has been eight years."

She wrapped her arms around his waist. "You're the best Simon!"

* * *

It took Apollo longer to get back to the agency than he expected. He eased his way up the stairs, making a mental note that he should probably put salt on the steps to make sure no one slipped.

_It'd really suck for a law agency to get sued._ He chuckled to himself walking upstairs. When he got to the top, he noticed the lights inside the office were on. _Hm, I know I turned out all the lights me and Athena left out. The closed sign is still on the window so it can't be Mr. Wright or Trucy. Maybe Athena really is making me absent minded_

He grabbed the doorknob, reaching in his coat to pull out his keys when he realized the door was unlocked.

"Now I know I locked this door..." Apollo whispered, slowly opening the door looking around. "Get a grip Apollo, you're fine."

He shrugged off his coat and laid it across the couch when he heard something rustling around in Mr. Wright's office. He took a deep breath quickly grabbing the closest thing to him which was the candlestick. He slid his body up against the wall as much as he possibly could.

When the door slowly creaked open he tightened his grip on the candlestick and raised his hand.

"Whoa, Apollo! First you punch me in the face and now you're gonna hit me over the head with a candlestick? Just when I was starting to give you reasonable paychecks." Phoenix chuckled.

Apollo let go of the breath he was holding. "MR. WRIGHT! What the hell! I thought you were a burglar or...a murderer or something." He sighed looking over him. "Are you still wearing your pajama pants?"

Phoenix shrugged. "It's only a short walk over here from the apartment. I kinda didn't really believe you and Athena cleaned the office, so I came over to check. Nice job."

"Oh, okay." _I'm probably going to regret asking him this, but he is older than me and he's got to have some kind of experience with this. Plus if I do wind up dating Athena it would be best to get his permission. I'm getting ahead of myself already._ "Mr. Wright, can I ask you something?"

"Ask me anything. As long as it's got nothing to do with flowers, cooking or laws. Is it an art or poker question? I'm pretty well versed in those."

"It's actually more of a personal question. You know about...dating."

Phoenix raised an eyebrow. "Wow really? I'm a little surprised actually. A year ago you wouldn't have taken any personal advice from me, not that I blame you. I'm not an expert but sit. There's a very important story I need to tell you involving a girl, a necklace and cold medicine."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: This is a pretty boring chapter to me, but necessary for the next few chapters of the story.

* * *

"Achtung! Herr Forehead, glad you could make it." Klavier smiled flipping his hair over his shoulder.

Apollo froze staring at him. "What...is that?"

"What is what?" He asked innocently.

"Don't play dumb. That thing on your shoulder..."

Klavier raised his eyebrow looking at his shoulder. "Herr Forehead, I hope you aren't referring to Herr Taka as a 'thing'. I don't think he'd appreciate that much." He reached up scratching the birds chin before he flew off. "No need to be jealous, he's not hanging around for our lunch date."

Apollo rolled his eyes though his cheeks flushed. "This is not a date, keep your voice down. Sometimes I don't know why I put up with you."

"Because I'm one of your favorite people." He grinned, leaning down giving Apollo a kiss on the forehead as they walked into the pizza shop.

Klavier was a close associate of Apollo's. No, associate wasn't really the appropriate word. After everything Kristoph had put them both through, he was a good friend. He was flashy and flirty and everything else Apollo wasn't, but beneath all that, he was a caring person and that was all he needed him to be.

"I'm just glad you agreed to get pizza instead of that fancy stuff I can't pronounce at the restaurant by the prosecutor's office."

"Ach, we could be eating dog food, I wouldn't dare miss a date with mein Forehead."

"Ugh, would you stop doing that!" Apollo whispered, or at least he attempted to but his voice always seemed to carry more than he intended it to.

The other man chuckled as he played with the end of his hair. "You need more practice with your inside voice. And why would I stop when it makes you blush." He blue eyes scanned the menu. "Should I get Hawaiian or buffalo chicken?"

"Why don't you just get something simple like pepperoni or plain?"

"That's why I like you, Apollo. Always keeping things simple and sometimes that's a nice thing, ja?"

Apollo blinked. "You think being simple is actually a good thing?"

"Of course. You are like the rock that I would hold onto during a mud slide." He smiled.

"I...don't even know what you mean by that. So why are you walking around with the killer bird on your shoulder?"

"Herr Jailbird needed to do an interrogation and asked me to feed his feathered companion." Klavier paid for the food and grabbed both trays, first walking over to where the stools were but then stopped remembering he was with Apollo and opted for a table instead.

Apollo sat down across from him grabbing his tray of pizza. He made a face staring down at Klavier's. "What is that?"

"Buffalo chicken pizza with ranch sauce drizzled over the top."

He scrunched up his face in disgust before taking a bite of his pepperoni slice. "Are you and Prosecutor Blackquill close?"

"Well, he's one of the few approachable people in the prosecutor's office if you can believe that. He's not a stranger to me either. I knew him before, which is why Herr Taka doesn't attack me."

"You knew him before he went to prison?"

Klavier chuckled. "Ja, you forget I've been a prosecutor since I was 17, he came a year after I had been there. Back when he was short haired and more cordial. I didn't know him for very long because...well you know but I think I'd call us friends. Though I wasn't a very good one, I didn't keep in touch or go to visit him but it seems like he doesn't hold it against me. He's changed a bit but he does not scare me."

_Athena said he was much nicer before he went to prison. Maybe that's why she's not afraid of him, like Klavier. They probably see the old him in there somewhere._

"Herr Forehead, didn't you want to talk about something? I could have sworn that's what you said when we spoke earlier."

Apollo had almost forgotten that he did have other motives for their meeting, though he was still embarrassed about it. He went back and forth all day with deciding on whether or not he should ask Klavier for advice for to ask out Athena. Mr. Wright hadn't been much help as all he did was go on and on about some girl named Dollie. Apparently the long one hour story only held two important lessons. Never swallow glass and don't accept cough medicine from anyone ever.

Klavier seemed to be pretty knowledgeable when it came to affairs of the heart. He had a certain charm about him. In fact if he weren't straight, he probably would have dated him. Not that he knew if Klavier swung that way. He and Ema were always suspicious but never questioned it. Maybe it was just a European thing.

"Well, I was wondering if you could give me some advice. I've got this crush on someone and I'm not really sure how to go about asking her out." He mumbled, staring at his half eaten pizza. He peeked up at the blond and found himself being intensely stared at. "Say something."

"So its matters of the heart you need help with?" A slow grin took over Klavier's features. "This is my third area of expertise besides prosecuting and music. Is she a Gavinners fan?"

"...I don't know and what does that have to do with me?"

"Can't I just be curious? There's not much you need to do but be yourself."

Apollo raised an eyebrow. "That's it? No telling me to wear tight leather pants or try and impress her with music or something?"

"This is for a crush, ja? Those things work on fan girls. Though, if you think you can pull off the leather look, I'm certainly not going to discourage you. You're a brilliant legal mind but rather tone deaf Herr Forehead, so it's safer for everyone that you not try. You're quite charming in your own...vanilla way. You have no problem attracting me."

He rolled his eyes. "You don't count; you're attracted to anything that's breathing."

"Perhaps, I'm not wrong though. You're already sincere and you're good at supporting others. There's only one thing I would change. You're a bit...uh straight."

He blinked. "That's the point."

Klavier laughed. "No no, not like that, though that's pretty disappointing for the fellas." He winked. "I mean you're a bit of a stick in the mud. Try being a little open minded especially if she's nothing like you. Make yourself available. DON'T talk about law either. No one wants to date a guy that's a lawyer 24/7, except maybe Herr Edgeworth."

Apollo snorted. "I don't always talk about my cases. But thanks for your help."

"I'm sure she won't be able to resist Herr Forehead." He looked down at his phone. "I have somewhere to be, but danke for having lunch with me. Same time next week if we're not working, ja?"

"Ja." He said back cleaning up the trays as the other man departed.

When he arrived home, Apollo was still trying to think of a way to ask Athena out. He smiled at his cat lying on the couch, seemingly waiting for him.

"Hey Mikeko. Have any idea how I should ask out Athena?"

The cat curled up against his side and purred.

"Hah, yeah me neither. I shouldn't over think it." He sighed leaning his head back. "Maybe I should just text it? No, that's an awful idea. She wouldn't even believe me. I need to do it face to face. Maybe I should just meet up with her and say 'hey, you wanna go on a date with me?' That's simple right? And she doesn't mind simple."

* * *

Simon sighed blowing a strand of hair from his face. "In case it wasn't obvious, though I believe that a folder that reads autopsy report is more than self-explanatory, I was doing work."

Athena smiled tugging at his arm. "I know but you've been staring at that case for over two hours and tomorrow is Saturday so you have until Monday to finish looking at that stuff."

"Ja, you need to live a little Herr Jailbird." Klavier smiled pulling the other arm.

"Why did you invite him?"

"I didn't invite him; he sorta just floated his way in here, like Taka."

"You hurt my heart by insisting that I wasn't invited. After I took good care of Herr Hawk while you were busy."

Athena nodded. "That's right Simon. You need to be nicer to your friends." She shoved him down on the couch as she and the blond sat on either side of him.

Simon sighed. "Very well, what are we doing tonight?"

"Well we could play a game or watch a movie."

"Not a game..."

She shrugged. "Suit yourself! Movie it is."

Klavier smiled sliding his hands behind his head. "This is my second date today, I feel lucky."

He rolled his eyes as Athena giggled looking through the movies they had. "Did Simon tell you that his license came?"

"Nein, he did not tell me this news. That means we can go car shopping now."

"That's right and the quicker we go car shopping, the quicker you can stop carpooling with Klavier. We should do it tomorrow! Let's go tomorrow!"

"I'm free, so it's another date. Three dates in two days? Mein gott I really must be lucky." He smiled brushing a hand through his hair.

Simon snorted. "I suppose the question was rhetorical since the two of you have taken it upon yourselves to make plans. I'm beginning to question whether being released from prison was wise."

Athena was about to respond to that remark when she felt her phone buzzing.

Text from: 'Pollo

_Hey, do you want to do something together tomorrow?_

It wasn't weird that Apollo was texting her, they normally did it over the weekend but they never really hung out outside of work. _Hmm, I have been hearing some different emotions from him lately but I don't know what they are. He's not angry or sad; it's something else. But it he wants to hang out, so it must be a good sign! Oh, but we're supposed to be going car shopping with Simon tomorrow. I know! I'll just invite him along. The more the merrier._

Text to: 'Pollo

_Sure, sounds great! I'll come by your apartment at around noon._


	7. Chapter 7

_"Just come out and say it Apollo."_

_"The truth is I really like you Athena. I've...had feelings for you for months. I just...thought I had lost my chance after I accused you for murder."_

_"Yes...that was a bit awkward, but I was never mad. Like I told you after that trial. I was moved that you wanted to trust me so bad. And you were hurting."_

_"And...you?"_

_"I've had a crush on you since the first time I met you, Apollo Justice. Well, after you managed to get from under the cop I threw at you." She laughed softly._

_"You...you really mean that? I mean I'm..."_

_"Just kiss me already, Pollo"_

_"O-Okay..." He licked his lips moving in slowly._

_"When you stole away the keys, my heart held on to so tight."_

_"...why are you singing the Guitar's Serenade?"_

Apollo groaned rolling over to grab his phone off the nightstand. "Hello."

"Pollo! What took you so long to answer the phone? And why do you sound so tired?"

It took a few moments for the voice to register in his head. "Athena?" He quickly sat up in bed running his hand through his messy, drooping hair. "Hey, what's up?"

"You sound like you're still in bed! I've been awake for almost two hours."

"Well normally I try not to be productive on Saturday..."

Athena let out an exaggerated sigh into his ear. "Well, we'll be there in half an hour so make sure that you're ready. Even though I have always wondered what your hair looks like in the morning."

Apollo could feel his cheeks heating up. "I've gotta go, see you soon." He hung up before giving her a chance to respond and quickly got out of bed. Or at least he attempted to. It would have been much easier had he not been tangled in the sheets. After a five minute battle, he managed to free himself by tumbling out of bed. The last thing he wanted was the girl he had a crush on to see what he looked like in the morning.

With a quick shower out of the way, he got dressed and got to work fixing his hair. He had just finished getting his two signature spikes to stand up when his doorbell rang.

_This is it. You're going to have a nice day with Athena and tell her how you feel without having any time to second guess yourself. I'm Apollo Justice and I'm fine!_

He grabbed his jacket off the wall and opened the door.

"Guten Tag, Herr Forehead." Klavier grinned, brushing his bangs out of his face, giving him a wink.

Apollo blinked. "Klavier?"

"Glad to see you are finally awake. Must have been up all night trading texts with the fraulein?" He smirked nudging him. "Achtung! Let's go already. Herr Jailbird isn't very patient I'm afraid."

As he was being pulling out of his apartment but the slightly aggressive German prosecutor, he managed to rewind what Athena said on the phone. _I was so busy worrying about her seeing my bed hair that I didn't focus on the word "we"_

"Hey Apollo, Klavier insisted on going up to get you."

Klavier grinned. "Ach, I'm busted. I wanted to be the first one to see how Forehead looks in the morning."

Apollo shook his head shoving Klavier away from him. "You freak." He turned back to Athena. "You didn't mention other people...or what exactly we were doing when we were texting last night."

Athena tugged playfully on her ponytail. "Yeah, I know. It's just we already had plans when I got your message and thought it would be fun. Is that okay?"

He wasn't as excited as he had been when he woke up. A day with Blackquill and Klavier definitely sounded like more work than fun but it wasn't as if he could avoid Simon forever. If anything ever did happen with Athena, something told him Simon and that bird would never be very far away.

"No, no. It's fine. We can all hang out together."

She squealed, pulling him into the backseat of Klavier's car. "Yay! I knew you wouldn't mind. We're going car shopping with Simon. You uh...may want to put your seatbelt on ASAP."

He gave her a nervous look as he quickly strapped himself in. "Why?"

Klavier slid into the front passenger seat. "Because it's been awhile since Herr Jailbird has operated a vehicle and the fraulein is a tad bit nervous."

"Wait...you mean he hasn't driven in seven years!? Didn't he have to retake the driving test or something?"

"Lucky for him, he had an eight year license so he got out of prison right before it was about to expire, all he had to do was repay the fee and take a new picture."

Simon snorted. "These things haven't changed much; it's like riding a bike. You don't forget it."

Apollo looked over at Athena who gave him a weak smiled and shrugged, gripping tighter onto her seatbelt.

"This is the life ja, Herr Jailbird? It's like we're taking our kids to soccer practice." He smirked making a gesture to the backseat.

Athena rolled her eyes. "Oh shut up, Klav!"

While the two bickered back and forth throughout the remainder of the ride, Apollo lost himself in his own thoughts. _I can't tell Athena that I like her now, not with Klavier and Simon here. But this doesn't have to be a complete loss. Now I can see for myself if there's anything going on between the two of them._

* * *

"SILENCE! Enough of your bickering. We've arrived at our destination." Simon growled.

Athena got out of the car tugging Apollo by the arm nearly choking him with the seatbelt. "A-TH-EN...A"

"Oops, sorry Pollo. Hurry up and come with me to look at all the cars!"

Apollo groaned rubbing his neck as he got out of the car looking around the lot. "These are some really...flashy cars."

"You're not kidding. Some of these cars cost more than we'll probably make all year Pollo."

"Ach, the life of a defense attorney is rough." Klavier smiled teasing the front of his hair a bit.

"Hmph, rockstar-dono is the one who picked out this place."

"Because a rock star prosecutor deserves a rock star ride, ja? Besides, it'll put that severance pay they gave you for your wrongful conviction to good use. Now, let's go Herr Jailbird, these defense attorney's will be no use to us here, they can't drive."

Simon raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Athena is just barely legal enough, but what is your excuse Justice-dono."

Apollo rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh well...money is pretty tight at the agency and I like riding my bike to work, its good exercise!"

"That's right! Health and fitness is how we do it at the Wright Anything Agency. I bet Apollo would get up with me at six in the morning for my weekend runs, right?"

"Oh, well..."

"Taka accompanies you. You do not need me there as well."

"ACHTUNG! Enough of that. The melodies of those magnificent engines are calling to us. Might I suggest you go German?"

Athena rolled her eyes as she watched them walk away. "Ugh, such jerks! I'm starting to think it's something they serve down at the prosecutor's office." She turned and smiled to him. "Don't worry about them. I like that you bike to work."

Apollo blinked as he felt his face heating up. "Haha, it's nothing really. It helps me clear my head and as long as it's not snowing, it's not too bad."

"Don't worry, if the weather is ever bad, I'll just force Simon to drive us both to work."

He smiled a bit and slid his hands into his sweater pockets. Klavier and Simon were all the way on the other side of the lot. _Maybe now would be a good time to tell her. It's not really how I envisioned it but we're alone at least._ "Um, Athena? There's something I wanted to ask you..."

"What is it Apollo?"

"W-well, I just wanted to say that you've been a really great friend to me and I really needed that after everything that happened last year. I guess what I'm trying to say is I l-"

"Wait, do you hear something?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Huh? No I don't hear anything?"

Athena frowned a bit. "That's strange. I could have sworn I heard something. It sounded familiar too. Oh well, back to what you were saying?"

"Okay. Athena, I really like..."

"You seriously don't hear that screeching? It sorta sounds like..."

"What scree..." Just then Apollo felt something slam into his head. "AHH WHAT IS IT?!"

"It's Taka!" Athena smiled reaching up to pet the bird. "Hey Taka, did you come looking for Simon?"

"I'm glad he's here and all but do you think you could please get him off my head?!" Taka screeched tugging on the two pieces of Apollo's hair. "Hey! Knock it off."

"Stay still so I can get him off." She ordered, holding her arm out for Taka to perch on. "That's just his way of showing you that he likes you."

"By sinking his claws into my scalp? I don't think I want to be shown that kind of love. He actually let's you hold him? How much time do you spend with Prosecutor Blackquill?"

"Oh, well...I see him often outside of work. Speaking of Simon, he'll probably be happy to see you here. Let's go find him and Klavier."

* * *

Apollo frowned a bit as his bracelet tinged on his arm a bit. Seemed like there was more to that response than Athena let on but it was probably best to not bring it up now. He followed her over to where the prosecutors were, though with Taka keeping an eye on him, made sure to keep a reasonable distance.

"Your taste in transportation is hideous." Simon mumbled.

"But if you get a convertible, Herr Feathers can perch onto the passenger seat and ride with you." Klavier suggested.

"Hmmm...No, no that is ridiculous!" He scoffed shaking his head.

Athena straightened Taka's scarf before letting him fly over to Simon's shoulder. "Maybe Taka can help you pick something."

"You can't be serious..." Apollo mumbled looking at her.

"Fraulein, are you implying a hawk is more helpful than I am?"

"Yes!" The three of them answered in unison.

"Hmph. My heart, you all hurt it very much. Maybe you are just too picky for your own good."

"Look at this one, Simon! It just screams dark and brooding prosecutor." She grinned tugging him by the arm.

"Must you drag? You could simply point out the direction you wish to take me in..."

Klavier smirked sliding over next to Apollo throwing his arm around him. "Just the two of us again mein Forehead."

Apollo blushed pushing him away. "Ugh, I wish you'd stop doing that."

"That's no fun for me though. How are things going with your crush?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, sighing. "Let's just say there was a minor interruption. I didn't get a chance to tell her yet."

"Well you better hurry up. Love waits for no man, not even myself."

He glanced back over at Athena and Simon who were trying out a black car while Taka sat on the hood. "Can I ask you something? Do you think something is going on between those two?"

Klavier raised an eyebrow. "Something like what?"

"You know...something romantic."

He looked at him. "Well...wait." He gasped. "You mean your crush is..."

Apollo sighed. "Yeah, it's Athena. I was just wondering if you had heard anything. Not that I believe rumors or anything!"

Klavier bit his lip. Now this would be a problem. On the one hand Apollo was his friend and he always thought him and Athena were cute together since first seeing the pair back at Themis Academy. However, he spent the past few months helping Simon keep tabs on anyone that showed any type of romantic interest in Athena. If he somehow encouraged Apollo and Blackquill found out, surely he'd be hawk dinner.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about. They're close, ja but in a much more sibling way. Like you and Fraulein Trucy."

"Apollo, Klavier! You have to come over and see this car, it's amazing!" Athena yelled, hanging out of the sunroof waving at them.

Klavier chuckled as the pair made their way over to the car. "She's beautiful and sleek. I should have guessed you would go for black."

Simon smirked. "Some of us don't like to stick out like hideous purple plums."

"Well time to go pay for this baby. Klavier should go inside with you, Simon. There's a chance he could get you a discount because he's a famous rock star."

Apollo groaned as Klavier grinned running his fingers through his bangs. "At least someone properly appreciates my fame. Something tells me that Herr Forehead will be very useful in the negotiation process however, so let's all go close this deal."


End file.
